Using the right email subject line to cut through the noise

Let’s face it, the odds are that most people are going to delete your email before even taking a look at what’s inside. If you’re lucky, they won’t unsubscribe. Why? Quite simply, it’s because most business people receive more than 100 emails a day. Most of these messages are unwanted, unsolicited spam.

So how do you cut through the noise?

The secret is to create a perfectly crafted email subject line. However, the truth is that writing an effective subject line is one of the hardest parts of email marketing for any financial adviser.

Below are Goldmine Media’s do’s and don’ts that every financial advisory firm should use to improve open rates and click rates, and to decrease unsubscribes and bounces.

Do:

• Vary your punctuation. Sometimes you can CAPITALISE an entire word here and there. One of the best words to do this with is, of course, ‘FREE’. It’s OK to use square brackets, phone numbers, an exclamation point or a question mark. In fact, rephrasing your headlines as questions is a great way to grab attention.
• Keep your subject lines short – we suggest using fewer than 50 characters is best. Research shows that using 28 to 30 characters results in the highest click rates. Make every character count by being ultra-specific.
• Tell people who you are. If you’ve got a product or service that people can recognise, use it in your subject lines. It’s best to set your reader’s expectations by telling them exactly what’s in the message and who sent it.

Don’t:

• Be boring. You’ve got less than a second to grab people’s attention.
• Scam people. Folks have enough emails from Nigerian princes telling them about their secret winnings. Don’t be rude by cheating people. For example, don’t start your message with ‘Re’ or ‘FW’ when you’re not actually replying to anyone.

Get more attention with your email subject lines, and you’ll get greater return on your inbound marketing efforts.

Oliver Taylor, Head of Sales & Marketing, Goldmine Media

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